PS5 Also Affected by Xbox Layoffs as Major Games Canceled

As the dust settles from yesterday’s bloodbath at Microsoft, PlayStation players are realizing that the cancellation of major Xbox games affects PS5 as well as their rumored multiplatform ports are understandably no more. Microsoft cut 9,000 jobs across the company, dealing a heavy blow to the Xbox division along the way.

At least two of the canceled Xbox games were heavily rumored for PS5

The Initiative’s Perfect Dark reboot, which was being developed with assistance from Crystal Dynamics, has been canceled and The Initiative has been shut down. Although it’s now safe to assume that all Xbox games will eventually land on PS5, previous leaks had suggested that Perfect Dark’s PS5 port was in development.

Interestingly, Perfect Dark’s creative director was none other than Brian Horton, who was working on Marvel’s Wolverine at Insomniac Games before leaving a year ago.

Then, there was a new MMO in development at The Elder Scrolls Online studio, ZeniMax Online. Codenamed Blackbird, the game was in development since 2018 — long before ZeniMax was acquired by Microsoft. Blackbird has been canned and ZeniMax Online founder Matt Firor is said to be departing the company.

Sea of Thieves’ developer Rare’s Everwild has also been canceled and veteran developer Greg Mayles, who had been with the studio for 30 years, is said to be leaving. Although Everwild was not rumored for PS5, an unannounced Banjo-Kazooie game was reportedly in development and was expected to land on PS5. Reliable insiders say that the game appears to have been canceled as well.

Last but not least, Call of Duty support studios including Raven have been gutted, mostly affecting Warzone teams. Back in March, a known insider reported that Warzone was on the cusp of losing support and in light of yesterday’s developments, we won’t be surprised if that turns out to be true.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the Microsoft layoffs.